This site
containsessays and
articleswhich present some of the
scientific evidence for evolution. It also contains refutations and
critiques of creationist arguments and creationism.Check out ourlinksandresources

Carsonella
rudii, a bacterium that lives in symbiosis in the cells of
a certain kind of plant-sap drinking insect, is so reduced and so
utterly dependent on its host nuclear genome that it can be regarded as
a transition between a symbiont and an organelle (like mitochondria). It is a genuine transitional on its way from bacterium to
organelle. Never let creationists tell you that there are no
transitionals. Go here to see
the full story

Fossil
of fish to amphibian transition discovered

An
excellent set of fossils that cover the transition of
water dwelling fish to modern tetrapods already exist, but
a new find, Tiktaalik roseae, shows some remarkable transitional
features such as robust front limbs fringed by fin rays
instead of digits.

One
particular gap has been between the Middle Devonian
Eusthenopteron, a fish with some transitional features
and the earliest known tetrapods, Acanthostega and
Icthyostega. Tiktaalik, dated at 382 million years ago, falls
into this gap, and shows many more transitional features,
including robust fins that are capable of supporting
the body, transitional patterning of the bones of the
pectoral
fin, a spine and ribcage capable of supporting the weight
of the animal and significant features in the skull
such as loss of the gill cover and a longer snout.

Daeschler
et al, Nature440, 757–763 (2006).

Shubin
et al, Nature440, 764–771 (2006).

Anatomically
modern humans from Kibish oldest known

The
OMO I and OMO II specimens from Kibish Etiopia were
discovered in 1967. Dating them has proven difficult,
although for many years a tentative date of 130,000
years BP made them the oldest known anatomically modern
humans.

Now
, in Nature 433, 733 - 736 (2005), McDougall et al use
new data from sapropels in the Kibish Formation
to put an age on these specimens of 195 ± 5 kyr, extending
the age of anatomically modern humans back a further
40,000 years beyond the Herto specimens

In
Nature 431, 1055 - 1061, Brown et al report the amazing
discovery of a new hominin, a tiny human that
stood only a metre high, and that appears to have lived
as recently as 18,000 years ago on the Indonesian island
of Flores..It has a combination of primitive and derived
features that assign it to a new species, Homo floresiensis.

Study
of Archaeopteryx brain and inner ear confirm they are
transitional between dinosaurs and modern birds

In
Nature 430, 666 - 669, (2004), Alonso et al) study the
brain and inner ear of Archaeopteryx. They find that
the brain and ear lie midway between that of dinosaurs
and birds. They report that : 'birds with the same body mass as Archaeopteryx have from
one third to five
times bigger brains. However, the brain of Archaeopteryx is about three times
the volume of those of non-avian reptiles of equivalent size.'

Also
data is presented in graphic form that shows that
Archaeopteryx semicircular
canals have a form that is midway between dinosaurs and birds

Guy
Berthault is hailed by the YEC community who claim that his work
on sedimentation undermines modern geology and the idea of an Old
Earth. Go here for a rebuttal.

Carl Wieland published
an article on 'Answers in Genesis' claiming that the Miitochondrial Eve concept supported a literal
biblical Eve dated at 6,500 years ago. He is wrong and I pointed that out in
this article. He responded
to this with a reply of his own. Go
here
to see why Carl Wieland is misinformed about the science and mistaken
in his conclusion. The Mitochondrial Eve concept does not
support the bible. Now updated.

Christoph Schönborn, Cardinal of the Catholic Church, and Archbishop
of Vienna, has been causing controversy amongst the faithful and non-Catholics
alike since his article supporting the Intelligent Design movement and attacking
the biological Theory of Evolution was published in the New York Times. He has now published an article, ‘The
Designs of Science’,
in which he seeks to clarify and expand
the New York Times piece. Go here for a rebuttal

Observations
support Big Bang cosmology

Third
Year data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe have been
published. These data support the Standard Model of Cosmology extremely
well, with detailed support for a Cold Dark Matter model with flat
or nearly flat universe, and a cosmological constant-like Dark
Energy. Inflation is strongly supported. The signature of gravity
waves was not detected but not ruled out. Go
here

"There
is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been
originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this
planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so
simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have
been, and are being, evolved." - The Origin of Species, Charles
Darwin

With these
inspiring words, Charles Darwin concluded his book, 'The Origin of
Species', and from that date in 1859, nothing in science would ever be the
same again. Darwin's concept of Natural Selection was the keystone in an
edifice which explains the diversity and nested relationships of
species. It is a beautiful and powerful concept, and, as the famous
biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky
said:"Nothing in Biology makes sense except in the light of
Evolution"

Fundamentalists are
opposed to Neo-Darwinism, and supporting sciences such as geology,
cosmology, and palaeontology, because:

They contradict the literal account of Creation in the
bible

They disprove the notion that the Earth is young - many
creationists think it is only 6,500 to 10,000 years old

They suggest that Mankind is ultimately descended
from non-humans

They directly debunk the story of a global
flood

They dispense with a need for supernatural intervention
to explain the origin and diversity of life on earth

Young Earth Creationists,
finding their opinion opposed by the scientific evidence at every turn,
and unable to make progress in the scientific debate, have attempted
to engage the general public in their aim to introduce non-science into
the teaching of science in schools.

More recently, a new
movement called Intelligent Design has emerged. It is more
sophisticated than Young Earth Creationism, although it relies on
arguments that have been discredited for more than a century.
Its adherents do not all subscribe to a Young Earth, but they all
suggest that life is designed by what they call the Intelligent
Designer (which is a thinly veiled description of God).

The fact of evolution
(that organisms change over time and that new species emerge as other go
extinct) has been known for over 150 years. The mechanism by which
that happens is described by the Theory of Evolution. There is
a vast quantity of scientific evidence in support of neo-Darwinism, the
modern Theory of Evolution, although there is much still to be
learned.

This site containsessays and articlespresenting some of the scientific evidence for
evolution as well as criticisms of Creationist arguments. It also
containslinksto other relevant sites on the web and references
toscientific resourceslike books on relevant science

Another New Book
criticising Intelligent Design

Edited by John
Brockman, with essays from many leading scientists: "Intelligent
Thought; Science versus the Intelligent Design Movement" ' ISBN 0307277224

“An
evolutionary understanding of the human condition, far from being
incompatible with a moral sense, can explain why we have one.” - Steven
Pinker

I am keen to add
additional high quality material to the site. If you have written
something that you think would fit into this site's content and style,
please submit ithere. (I
cannot guarantee to publish it, of course)